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**** Learn more about Customer Interviews and other Pre-Agile methodologies by signing up for the announcement list for our upcoming book: http://bit.ly/PreAgileBook **** Are you trying to build a new product? Add features to an existing one? If you're going through the process of Customer Development, you'll want to know the best practices for conducting Customer Interviews. And if you're not doing this already, this is a great primer on how and why you should start!
Citation preview
Everything you need to know in 100 slides or less*
18 Tips and Tricks on Conducting A Killer
Customer Interview
Customer Interviews
*The slides are short. It’ll go fast, I promise.
Want to learn even more? We’re writing a book: Pre-Agile Methodologies:
A Tactical Guide To Not Building The Best Wrong Thing.
Go to http://bit.ly/PreAgileBook to never build the wrong thing again.
Startups, SMBs, or F500 How Do Companies Die?
Customer Interviews
Step 1) Stop building what people want.* Step 2) ??? Step 3) Run out of money.
*This assumes no tax fraud or other illegal activity. But if you had to learn that from a SlideShare presentation, maybe you should be in another line of work. Like working for
Enron.
No one TRIES to disregard customers. The Status Quo
Customer Interviews
Sometimes they listen to the wrong sources. Sometimes the customers they’re listening to are no longer representative of where the market is going. And sometimes, like in the case of millennials, it’s a new customer segment that isn’t well understood.
How do companies listen now? The Status Quo
Customer Interviews
• Market Research Reports • Trend Analysis • Competitive Analysis • “Keeping up with the Joneses” • Intuition • Solving their own problems
Stuff people don’t care about
Customer Interviews
1. Corporate initiatives 2. Internal Politics 3. Industry Trends 4. Features 5. Technology
Stuff people DO care about
Customer Interviews
1. Having their problems solved.
So how do you know how to solve their problems?
Customer Interviews
... How do you even know what their problems are?
Customer Interviews
By talking directly to customers.
Customer Interviews
Because it turns out...
Customer Interviews
You are not Charles Xavier.
Customer Interviews
So why try to read minds... ... when you could just ask them?
Customer Interviews
Part 1: The Rules to Customer Interviews
Part 2: Techniques For Getting Stories
Part 3: FAQ
What do we need to know?
Customer Interviews
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
The answer to the question “Do you want ice cream?” is always
“Yes!”
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
What sane and rational person would answer “No” to this question?
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
But the answer to the question “Do you want this ice cream that costs $250?” might turn out to be “... No.”
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
Ice cream questions are when you withhold information and don’t reveal all the
costs associated with a benefit.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #2: Pull, don’t Push The Rules
Customer Interviews
The goal of these interviews is to learn about their problems.
You want to PULL information out of your interviewee.
You do not want to PUSH your ideas on to them.
For example...
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #3: No Leading Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
Subjects answering the question:
“Do you get headaches frequently and, if so, how often?”
reported an average of 2.2 headaches per week.
Rule #3: No Leading Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
While subjects answering the question
'Do you get headaches occasionally and, if so, how often?'
reported only 0.7 per week.
[John Hayes, Interpersonal Skills at Work. Routledge, 2002 referencing
Loftus (1975)]
Rule #3: No Leading Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
You’ve suggested the answer is by the phrasing of the question
You’ve lead them to where you want them...
which is Push.
Remember, you want to PULL information out of them.
Rule #3: No Leading Questions The Rules
Customer Interviews
Decisions based on bad data are worse than decisions based on no data.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #4: Past Behavior vs Future Behavior The Rules
Customer Interviews
“How often are you going to work out at the gym next year?”
“I’m going to work out 3 times a week, every week.” “How many times a week have you been working out?”
“Uh... zero.”
Rule #4: Past Behavior vs Future Behavior The Rules
Customer Interviews
“How often are you going to work out at the gym next year?”
“I’m going to work out 3 times a week, every week.” “How many times a week have you been working out?”
“Twice a week, every week.”
Rule #4: Past Behavior vs Future Behavior The Rules
Customer Interviews
It is incredibly difficult and rare for people to drastically alter their behavior.
What a person HAS been doing is a great predictor
of what they will do in the future.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self The Rules
Customer Interviews
“Please describe your diet.” “I eat mostly Paleo. Meats, veggies, nuts... a little bit of fruit, sometimes milk.”
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self The Rules
Customer Interviews
“Describe your last meal.” “We were in a rush to get to the Kanye concert, so I grabbed a slice of pizza on the way. After the show, we grabbed some Hot Dogs from a street vendor, then when I came home I had gummy bears and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”* *This example, unfortunately, is not fictional.
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self The Rules
Customer Interviews
If you ask someone to describe themselves, they will tell you about their Ideal Self. How they see themselves. How they want to be. Ask for a story about “the last time,” and you will discover their Actual Selves.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #6: No Pitching The Rules
Customer Interviews
“Would you use a shampoo that made your dog not smell bad anymore?”
Rule #6: No Pitching The Rules
Customer Interviews
1. Possible violation of Rule #1: There is probably more information they need to give a real answer. 2. Violating Rule #2: You’re supposed to be looking for (pulling) problems, not pushing solutions. 3. Violating Rule #4: Past behavior/Future Behavior 4. Violating Rule #5: Ideal Self vs. Actual Self
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof The Rules
Customer Interviews
“N” is a statistical term for sample size.
“N of 1” means you have a sample size of 1.
That’s not good.
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof The Rules
Customer Interviews
You’re looking for qualitative data, not quantitative.
You don’t need to achieve statistical significance.
But making decisions based on what you learned
from a single person is dangerous.
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof The Rules
Customer Interviews
Examples:
“I ride the bus. This product is solving my problem, so I know what I need to do.”
“The guy on the bus said he doesn’t really care how long he waits for the bus, so we’re pivoting to something different.”
“The woman at the bus stop said she always checks the bus schedule online
before she leaves, so we’re definitely on to something!”
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof The Rules
Customer Interviews
Any one of these behaviors could be representative of a larger population.
But, any of these behaviors could also be
exceptions to the norm.
Keep interviewing people until you’re hearing the same stories over and over and over again.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding. Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #8: No Seeding The Rules
Customer Interviews
Jump straight into the first question.
Do not tell the interview subject what your research is about.
If you frame the context, they’ll answer within that context... which means they’ll try to give you the
answers they think you want to hear.
Rule #1: No Ice Cream Questions
Rule #2: Pull, Don’t Push
Rule #3: No Leading Questions
Rule #4: Past Behavior --> Future Behavior
Rule #5: Actual Self vs. Ideal Self
Rule #6: No Pitching
Rule #7: “N of 1” is Not Proof
Rule #8: No Seeding.
Rule #9: Stories > Statements
Part 1: The Rules
Customer Interviews
Rule #9: Stories > Statements The Rules
Customer Interviews
“Have you traveled recently?”
vs.
“Tell me about the last time you traveled.”
Rule #9: Stories > Statements The Rules
Customer Interviews
“Yes or No” questions: • Don’t provide deeper insights • Constrict the conversation • Don’t build rapport
Getting someone to tell stories • Lets them lead the conversation • Reveals insights you couldn’t predict • Builds rapport and trust
Once you get someone telling stories, it’s hard to get them to stop.
Customer Interviews
So how do you get someone telling stories?
Customer Interviews
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...” Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #1: Tell me about the last time... Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
It’s hard to come up with “the best/worst time” something happened, but it’s easy to remember the
last time.
And often, once they tell you about the last time, they’ll say “But that was nothing compared to THIS
OTHER TIME...”
Technique #1: Tell me about the last time... Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
“Tell me about the last time you travelled out of the state.”
“Tell me about the last time you went to a concert.”
“Tell me about the last time you
went on a first date.”
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s” Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #2: 5 Why’s Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Every time they make a statement, ask why.
Use this technique to get to the underlying cause or to identify some root emotion.
(5 isn’t a set number. It could be 3, or 7, or 12.)
Technique #2: 5 Why’s Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
“I want to start going to the gym.” Why? “Because I want to be strong and fit.” Why?
“Because I want to be healthy.” Why? “Because I don’t want to die of a heart attack when I’m 40.” Why?
“Because my dad died of a heart attack when he was 40..”
Okay. That’s interesting! Now we understand their motivations.
But why so many why’s?
Technique #2: 5 Why’s Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
“I want to start going to the gym.” Why? “Because I want to be strong and fit.” Why? “Because I want to girls to like me.” Why?
“Because I’ve only ever dated one person.” Why? Because I’m not good at connecting with people on an
emotional level.”
See how their motivations diverged... but only a few levels down?
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.” Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #3: “Tell me more.” Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Sometimes people will stop talking or end a story, but it feels like there’s more.
Maybe it feels like a good place to end, maybe they feel like they’ve been talking too long, or they’re a
little hesitant to share the next part.
Simply prompting someone to “tell you more” will often result in deeper, more interesting stories.
Technique #3: “Tell me more.” Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
“I went to Sicily last summer. I figured I wouldn’t end up sorting through a bunch of pictures, so I didn’t bother
taking any.”
Tell me more?
“I used to take thousands of pictures of vacations with my fancy DSLR, but I have never looked through a single set.
So I just stopped taking pictures.”
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...” Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...” Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Another technique to get people to elaborate on something they just said.
“What do you mean by ‘If it wasn’t for your horse,
you wouldn’t have spent that year in college.”
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with
your problem now?” Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #5: “How are you dealing...” Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Does the interviewee have any solution to their problem right now?
Does it do the job effectively?
Are they happy with it?
... or are they ignoring the problem completely?
Technique #5: “How are you dealing...” Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
You can learn a lot by knowing how they deal with their problem today.
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #6: Silence is Golden. Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #6: Silence is Golden. Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
See. Wasn’t that a little awkward?
People seek to fill silence.
Look expectant that there’s more they want to say.
Let them be the one to fill the silence.
Technique #6: Silence is Golden. Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Often this is when they’ll start talking about something you never thought to ask.
Technique #1: “Tell me about the last time...”
Technique #2: “5 Why’s”
Technique #3: “Tell me more.”
Technique #4: “What do you mean by...”
Technique #5: “How are you dealing with your problem now?”
Technique #6: Silence is Golden
Technique #7: Walk away.
Part 2: Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Technique #7: Walk away. Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
When you end the interview, the dynamic of the conversation changes.
If you’re having trouble getting an interview subject
to open up, end the interview a bit abruptly.
As you prepare to move on, make small talk. Often the subject will be much more relaxed, forthcoming,
and you can continue without them realizing it.
Question #1: “How do I get them to talk to me?”
Question #2: “What if they never talk about the problem I’m trying
to solve?”
Question #3: “How do I put these into a survey?”
Part 3: FAQ
Customer Interviews
Question #1: “How do I get people on the
street to talk to me?”
Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
If you’re approached on the street, your typical response is probably either:
“No thanks.”
“I’m busy.”
*Ignore*
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
But now the tables have turned. How do you get people to stop and talk to you?
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
According to a study by Langer, E., Blank, A., and Chanowitz, B. (1978) published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a researcher
approached a line of people waiting for a photocopier and asked:
“Excuse me, I have five pages. Could I use the copier next?”
with a 60% success rate.
Not bad!
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
But when the researcher added the phrase
“because I’m in a rush,”
the number soared from 60 percent to 94 percent!
Totally awesome!
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
But here’s the thing.
They ran the experiment again. This time asking
“May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies.”
How many people do you think said yes to this silly request?
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
93%.
A mere 1% less than when you gave a real reason.
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
The secret word here is “because.”
Even if your “because clause” is meaningless, simply using the word will bypass peoples’ natural defenses.
Question #1: The Approach FAQ
Customer Interviews
So try opening with
“Excuse me, I’m working on a project and I was wondering if I could ask you a few quick questions.”
“Working on a project” doesn’t MEAN anything...
but behavioral psychology says that’s apparently okay.
Question #2: “What if they won’t talk about
the problem I’m trying to solve?”
Getting Stories
Customer Interviews
Question #2: Not Cooperating FAQ
Customer Interviews
Remember Rule #2? “Pull, Don’t Push”
If they won’t talk about the problem you are trying to solve without prompting...
If you can’t get them to independently say “Hey, you
know what sucks? This thing!”
Then maybe...
Question #2: Not Cooperating FAQ
Customer Interviews
It’s not that big of a problem for them.
Question #2: Not Cooperating FAQ
Customer Interviews
If you’re not solving a “Top 3 Problem”
chances are...
They’re not going to care about your product.
They’re not going to pay for your product.
Question #2: Not Cooperating FAQ
Customer Interviews
So instead, explore into the problems they ARE talking about.
What have we learned? Wrapping up
Customer Interviews
1. The rules for a good customer interview 2. Good techniques to get stories 3. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I learn more? Wrapping up
Customer Interviews
Enjoy this? Want to learn even more? We’re writing a book:
Pre-Agile Methodologies: A Tactical Guide To Not Building The Best Wrong Thing.
Go to http://bit.ly/PreAgileBook to never build the wrong thing again.
So what’s next? Wrapping up
Customer Interviews
Go forth. Interview.
Build great products.
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